Library and Information Science

Library-College is a concept that the library, instead of the classroom, is the most important component in college education, and a movement to realize this concept developed in the United States of America, where the library has been assumed as the center of the campus.

Turning to the present state of the college library in our country, it has not yet attained full growth in its system and services, and is struggling to emerge from convention of long standing, while the college itself also is undergoing difficulties in improving its constitution. Under such circumstances, the college library has been forced to innovate in its services. At this very time, it is significant for Japanese librarians to understand the concept and movements of Library-College.

The purpose of the present paper is to introduce to Japanese librarians and to give easy access to the basic literature of Library-College studies. The writer selects fundamental books and journal articles on the Library-College and reviews them in the following 5 sections of the paper: 1) introduction or approaches to the Library-College, 2) thoughts on the Library-College, 3) the Library-College and teaching methods; individual learning, 4) the Librarian-Teacher, and 5) critical comments on the Library-College.